Australian gold-medal hope Jenna Strauch is excited about her homecoming at the shortcourse swimming world championships in Melbourne, close to a decade after her career almost ended.
The 25-year-old will suit up for her maiden international meet in Melbourne next week, with the Dolphins currently preparing in her home town of Bendigo in another first.
Strauch has had a breakout year in 2022, winning silver medals in the 200m breaststroke at the FINA world championships in Hungary and at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Last year, in her Olympic debut in Tokyo, she came ninth in the event, narrowly missing the final.
"I've had a massive year - it's been a big breakthrough year on the international stage with my first medals," Strauch told AAP.
"Coming off the Olympics last year and getting that exposure and then coming into a jam-packed year, it's paid off for me and I'm looking to carry that momentum not just into world shortcourse but the coming years into Paris (Olympics in 2024)."
Strauch was always a strong junior prospect but was almost forced to give up swimming, falling seriously ill as a 16-year-old when she was in and out of hospital for 18 months.
She was diagnosed with three different parasites - one water-borne - which cascaded into a number of different debilitating symptoms.
Strauch said she slept most days and lost a huge amount of weight and muscle-mass while at her lowest, making a return to swimming even tougher.
"It was definitely a challenge; it feels like an eternity ago," she said.
"Now I think it was pretty rough and how did I ever come back, but I took a lot of learnings from it and it made me a better athlete and a better person.
"My career's progressed on a pretty nice trajectory and it's made the achievements all the more sweeter."
Strauch has since been fighting fit and is excited to be taking on a big schedule in Melbourne in front of her home crowd.
"I've got three individual events and depending on heats and semis and finals there's potential for two or three relays," she said.
"For a six-day meet it's pretty jam-packed but I feel well prepared after racing overseas last year at the ISL (International Swimming League).
"Short-course is shorter and faster and it's fun."
There are 36 swimmers in the Australian team including Olympic gold medallists Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown, Mack Horton, Kyle Chalmers, Madi Wilson, Meg Harris, Chelsea Hodges and Mollie O'Callaghan.
The event opens at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on Tuesday December 13 and runs until Sunday December 18.
